Tag: Film
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My Oscar Picks – 2026
Every year I publish my Oscar picks. I’m not always right. Neither is the Academy. This year I had company. I invited Claude—Anthropic’s AI—to make its own predictions alongside mine. Claude processes more information in a second than I’ll encounter in a lifetime. It reads the critics, tracks the precursors,…
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Listening in the Dark
Cinema’s greatest magic trick is making us believe we’re primarily watching, when much of our emotional and perceptual experience is actually being shaped by what we hear. Recent research confirms this. Studies show that sound dominates our perception of timing and rhythm in films, that it can actually alter what…
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My Oscar Picks – 2025
The above AI generated image was created by WordPress tools using the following description. “Create a meticulously detailed and high-resolution featured image for my blog post. The image should prominently showcase a glamorous Oscar statuette elegantly positioned on a luxurious red carpet. Surround the statuette with elements that symbolize the…
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My Oscar Picks – 2024
Predicting (hate that word) what the Academy will choose is risky business. But those of us who follow cinema closely can’t help ourselves. The Academy is all about proclamation. Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Sound, etc. But can there really be a Best of anything in art? The full Academy…
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Killers of the Flower Moon – Film Review
It’s hard to imagine a story more “American” than Killers of the Flower Moon. A true story about an Indian tribe being forced to give up their land along with their customs and freedom. Adapted from David Grann’s gripping non-fiction book, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and…
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Arrival – What is Your Purpose on Earth?
It’s always a tough decision. Do I buy a ticket to yet another dystopian, futuristic, science fiction bleak house of a film? Last year I bought one for Ex Machina, which caught me by complete surprise. Armed with that memory I decided to take a chance on Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival. The carefully crafted…
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Oliver Stone’s Snowden – There Are Many Ways to Serve Your Country
Traitor or Whistleblower? This question might cross the mind settling in for a screening of Oliver’s Stone’s first feature film in four years; Snowden. We are steered to a specific message, nothing unusual for Mr. Stone. He provides his usual dose of investigative dramatic filmmaking; a style he owns. In short…
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The Stakes are High in The Big Short
Adam McKay’s take on the bestseller by Michael Lewis is an investigative romp leading up to the financial meltdown that began in 2007. It’s full of colorful characters and even more colorful language. Mr. McKay uses voiceover and direct talking into an always moving, manic camera. He intercuts images, sounds and…
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“The Martian” and his Earthlings
Mars has long been the muse to writers, scientists and moviemakers. A wikipedia search for “films about Mars” will yield a page that lists 66 titles although many of them were television shows. The most common plot line that emerges when Mars and Earth are in the same script turns out to be mostly…
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My Annual Oscar Picks – 2014
It’s that time again. The Academy hands out their picks for best of every category. They can select 10 films for best picture, but apparently could find only nine worthy of the crown. The pictures span history, deep drama, AIDS, hijacking, swindle and a celestial exploration of the human spirit,…
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Inside Llewyn Davis – Film Review
The Coen’s never make it easy on the audience. They weave their stories from the inside out. The very inner circle is deep with details and rich in emotion and meaning. As the circles swirl outward the fidelity of the details is dialed back. Occasionally they circle back to the…
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Side Effects – Film Review
The release of the psychological thriller Side Effects brings with it good news and bad news. First the bad news. Director Steven Soderbergh has announced this is will be his last feature film. He’s retiring from moviemaking (I don’t believe it, or just refuse to believe it). Now the good news, we…
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My Oscar Picks for 2013
The 85th Academy Awards ceremony is only a day away. So many terrific films and excellent performances this past year has caused me lots of back and forth in filling out my ballot. In my opinion there are only two slam dunks; Daniel Day-Lewis for actor and Anne Hathaway for…
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Zero Dark Thirty – Film Review
2012 will be remembered as the year the movies took back their time slot. The year the industry remembered they have a super power; making big, ambitious, thought-provoking pictures and damn the running time or who might be protesting. Six major feature films released in the fall/winter season topped the…
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The Season of the Film
Autumn brings impossible colors and crisp nights. It also beckons the best films of the year to the screen. We have suffered through the winter drought, the spring chick flicks (no offense ladies) and the summer explosions to finally emerge on the other side. We are now in film art…
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Hugo (3D) – Film Review
I had given up hope that Martin Scorsese would ever make a picture aimed at all ages. With his love of film and unsurpassed knowledge of the art form, I felt he was a natural. But with New York as your muse, there are more serious matters to attend to.…
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My Oscar Picks for 2011
This Sunday, February 27, 2011 will be the 83rd annual Oscar awards presentation. An art form with a storied past, and I believe a bright future. Although India churns out many more pictures than the U.S. each year, the art of the film and the studio are uniquely American. I’m…
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Me and Orson Welles – Film Review
I have been fascinated with Orson Welles since I was a boy. I had heard the recording of his famous War of the Worlds radio broadcast at an early age, and one of the first films I remember thinking hard about was Citizen Kane. Genuine prodigies, which is how I…
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Moon – Film Review
The classic science fiction drama has been all but dead for nearly a decade. Thoughtful, provocative storytelling of another place in time and space is a rarity in today’s U.S. cinema. The last one that comes to mind was Steven Soderbergh’s Solaris, and it was based on the novel by…